Parks Nets Career Point 2,000 as Blazers Edge Southern Vermont

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) netted her 2,000^th career point as the Elms College women's basketball team outlasted visiting Southern Vermont College, 70-67, in a New England Collegiate Conference match at Picknelly Arena Tuesday night.

A jumper from Parks at the 15:016 mark of the opening half, doubled the Blazers advantage over the Mountaineers to a 10-5 in the early going. The Mountaineers battled back and a tip in from junior guard Turquoia Johnson (Montgomery Village, Md.) cut the Elms lead to 14-13 with 10:52 on the clock.  Elms padded their lead with an 8-3 run to pull ahead 22-16 with 6:25 remaining in the first half. At the 2:41 mark, Parks reached the 2,000-point milestone with a pair of free throws, giving the Blazers a 27-22 lead. Elms took a 29-26 advantage into halftime.

Back-to-back buckets from the Mountaineers in the opening minutes of the second half cut the Blazers lead to 31-30. A three-pointer from Elms senior guard Gianna Youngblood (Lakeville, Mass.) at the 14:06 mark staked the Blazers to a 41-36 lead. Southern Vermont rallied back, and a three-point play from junior guard Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) cut the Elms lead to 43-42 with 12:07 to play. A jumper from Parks gave the Blazers a 51-45 lead, but Southern Vermont answered with a three-pointer from Dow on the opposite end, to make it a 51-48 game with 7:47 remaining. Southern Vermont grabbed their first lead of the half behind an 8-4 run capped off by a fast-break layup from Flagg. The Blazers regained control of the scoreboard with four consecutive points from sophomore forward Alexandra Marques (Newington, Conn.) to pull ahead 59-56 with 3:42 on the clock. The Blazers built their lead to five points twice, and Southern Vermont whittled it back to a one-point game on both occasions. A pair of free throws from Marques put Elms up 67-64, and on the ensuing possession, Elms sophomore guard Emily Burr pickpocketed Flagg and found junior guard Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.) on the fast break to give the Blazers a 69-64 advantage. The Mountaineers made it a one possession game, 69-66, but a firm Blazers defense kept Southern Vermont scoreless on their final two possessions to secure the 70-67 win.

Parks paced the Blazers with a team-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, recording her sixth double-double of the season. Senior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) registered her fifth double-double with  15 points and 13 rebounds. Marques exploded of the Blazers bench, posting career-high in points (14) and rebounds (16). Youngblood added seven points, four rebounds, and three assists in the win.

The Mountaineers were led by Flagg with a game-high 27 points, connecting on 15-of-18 free throw attempts, with four rebounds. Dow chipped in 11 points, while Johnson had 10 points and eight rebounds.

"It was very emotional to finally reach the 2,000-point milestone," said Parks. "I literally started to tear up when they made the announcement, because I never thought I'd see myself at this point in my life and basketball career. I never thought this day would come, but it proves that hard work really does pay off. No matter what situation you in, you always have to make the best of it, and I made the best of my situation. I felt like I was rushing my shots early with that nervous feeling. I thought maybe with 2,000 points, it would be a little different that when I hit 1,000, but I got that same feeling. I wanted to get it out of the way early, so we could focus on the game as well. We started to find our success today once we started to box out, and when we started to take advantage of running a fast-paced offense. I knew we were coming into a fight today, and Southern Vermont always gives us a tough game."

The Blazers edged the Mountaineers, 59-54, during the contest. Elms converted 34.2% (26-of-76) of their field goals, including 25% (2-of-8) from three-point range, and 57.1% (16-of-28) from the free throw stripe. Southern Vermont shot 30.6% (22-of-72) from the floor, 30.8% (4-of-13) from three-point, and 65.5% (19-of-29) from the foul line.

Elms improves to 9-6 overall, and 7-1 in NECC play, while Southern Vermont drops at 9-6, and 7-1 in the NECC. The Blazers return to the court in a road tilt against Bay Path Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. The Mountaineers hosts Regis College Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

VIDEO: Denisha Parks Nets Career Point #2,000

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